John Robert Clark was a London carman; Edwin Abraham a Hawkesbury College student; Frederick James Morgan a Canadian teamster. Their biographies connect civilian lives with the hospitals and sections where they cared for army animals.
From the unit to further care
Drivers, farriers, horsemasters and veterinary personnel cared for the horses and mules of artillery, transport, cavalry and mounted formations. They recognised illness and arranged examination; many belonged to units outside the veterinary corps.
Minor cases could stay with their unit. A Mobile Veterinary Section (MVS) collected animals needing further care. Its men assisted treatment and prepared patients for evacuation, leading or loading them and keeping their identification and treatment records together.
- With the unitRoutine horse care and the first examination
- Mobile veterinary careCollecting, treating and preparing patients
- EvacuationLeading or transporting animals and handing them over
- Veterinary hospitalDaily care, treatment and assessment
Recovering animalsConvalescence or remount, then possible return to service
Further careTransfer to another hospital or treatment establishment
Animals lost to serviceDeath, destruction or casting
Minor cases could return from an earlier stage. Routes changed with the animal's condition and the campaign.
Explore the workplaces through the men
The British hospital directory covers Nos. 1–30, with 26 accounts and four brief entries. Start with a workplace below to find its men and their stories.
Britain
Britain · Veterinary hospital
No. 3 Veterinary Hospital
A carman, a cement burner and a tramways worker among the men of a Boulogne hospital.
Britain · Veterinary hospital
No. 7 Veterinary Hospital
Horse keepers and other ranks receiving, sorting and moving hundreds of animals.
Australia
Australia · Veterinary hospital
Australian Veterinary Hospital
John Burrell, Edwin Abraham, John Dickson and Ernest Reinmuth at the Calais hospital.
Australia · Mobile Veterinary Section
5th Australian Mobile Veterinary Section
Edwin Abraham's mobile-section service and brief hospital posting connect two workplaces.
Australia · Mobile Veterinary Section
6th Australian Mobile Veterinary Section
Percival Evesson, an assistant veterinary surgeon, and John James McDonald, a baker, are recorded with the section.
Australia · Veterinary evacuating station
1st Australian Veterinary Evacuating Station
John Russell Dickson's papers trace his move from the Calais hospital to the evacuating station.
Canada
Canada · Veterinary hospital
No. 1 Canadian Veterinary Hospital
A teamster, a carpenter and a steamfitter recorded with the Canadian hospital.
Canada · Veterinary hospital
No. 2 Canadian Veterinary Hospital
William Hales, a labourer, and Charles Walry, a saddler, connect two civilian trades to the hospital.
Canada · Mobile Veterinary Section
No. 1 Canadian Mobile Veterinary Section
Alfred Severn Young, a hotel manager from London, is recorded with the section.
Canada · Mobile Veterinary Section
No. 2 Canadian Mobile Veterinary Section
Poul Emil Nielsen, a Copenhagen-born cook, is commemorated with the section.
South Africa
South Africa · Mobile veterinary section
6 Mobile Section, South African Veterinary Corps
Warwick Edward Wright's original service card names his transfer to 6 Mobile Section.
Unit background
These pages explain the work of units whose individual casualty postings are still being researched.
New Zealand · Unit background
No. 2 New Zealand Mobile Veterinary Section
Unit background: care for the Mounted Rifles Brigade's animals in Sinai and Palestine.
In the hospitals
Horse keepers, farriers and dressers fed and watered patients, cleaned stables, assisted treatment and exercised recovering animals. Cooks, clerks and transport workers kept the hospitals running.
On 31 March 1918, No. 7 recorded dispatching 329 horses and 79 mules to No. 6 at Rouen. Such movements meant hundreds of animals to handle, load and hand over. The hospital diary account records this transfer and others.
Britain and the Dominion services
Organisation varied between countries and campaigns. The workplaces above include British, Australian, Canadian and South African establishments, alongside background on a New Zealand section. Warwick Wright, a bookkeeper and clerk, was posted to South Africa’s 6 Mobile Section in June 1916.
The Veterinary corps page explains the national services; the British hospital directory covers Nos. 1–30.
Reading a workplace link
The linked biographies identify recorded postings, rather than complete staff lists. Men listed together may have served years apart; a posting alone does not place a man at a particular diary incident. Each account identifies its evidence and any uncertainty.
Sources and further reading
- Hospital diary evidence and Graham Hodgkins’s Sorting the Sick research accompany the British examples.
- Australian War Memorial, veterinary unit diaries.
- Library and Archives Canada, veterinary unit guide.
- NZ History, Veterinary Corps.
- D. O. Stratford, Military Veterinary Services in South Africa.
- Each biography carries its own sources.